Debated & Speculated Origins.

Pavlova is an iconic dessert linked to Australia…or is it New Zealand? Or maybe not even either of those countries? Read about the Pavlova history and its possible origins.

Pavlova History & Origins

Today we know of Pavlova as a dessert. It’s actual origin is that Anna Pavlova was one of the world’s most famous ballerinas from Russia in the early 1900s. Wherever she toured, she left an impact to the point that desserts were named after her.

Pavlova toured Australia and New Zealand in 1926. After her visit, a chef in a Wellington hotel in New Zealand created a billowy meringue dessert in her honor as he was inspired by her tutu. At the same time, in 1935, another hotel chef in Perth, Australia also created his own meringue dessert to which the house manager said it was “as light as Pavlova.”

While New Zealand and Australia make their claim to have invented this meringue topped with whipped cream and fruits dessert, there were Pavlove-like recipes made of meringue, cream, and fruit torte that originated from the Austrian Hapsburgs in the 18th century. There were also meringue torte recipes from German immigrants who settled in the midwest of America in the late 1800s. On top of that, there was a recipe for “strawberries Pavlova” found in 1911 which is the oldest recipe named after the ballerina.

From these prior recipes, food historians today believe that the meringue dessert possibly made its way to Australia and New Zealand as a printed recipe on a box of American cornstarch, as recipes then and today are quite commonly shared on baking ingredients.

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